Cultural Patterns In Decision-Making

Cultural Patterns Often Influence Decision-Making
Cultural patterns often influence decision-making

Cultural heritage determines much how we act in business. It influences the way we lead the discussion, take the decisions and negotiate. It inevitably impacts the final outcome of a business meeting. Should one care about preparation for the meeting with a person from a different culture? Definitely. It will make the negotiation process faster, smoother, and more understandable. 

Cultural patters exist in every society. These are the models of thinking, of taking decisions that the natives follow. Following the patterns usually happens intuitively, as these models become so natural for a person that an individual can be not conscious that a particular decision has been taken according to the concrete cultural pattern. Some individuals learn to determine these “stamps” and break them, being able to behave in more subjective manner. Psychological independence of taking decisions regardless any pre-accepted models is a big strength. Such behavior usually defines strong, thoughtful people. 

Breaking The Patterns 

Breaking the pattern allows to take more effective and subjective decision

In the situations of stress and inconvenience, even self-conscious, independent people can still rely on a cultural pattern. This is a trap type situation and happens accidentally. After taking such accidental decision, many people have a feeling of regret. This leads to fatal conclusions that may destroy the well-planned work of many years. The mastery lays in always taking time before taking the decisions. In the situations of pressure:

  • Take a breath. It is a basic practice that will help the mind to prescind.

  • Take several seconds to distract from the current situation. Think about a pleasant moment in life. This should be a moment that appeals to the valuable memories. 

  • Take a minute of thinking and look at other objects that are in the room you are in. A good solution is to have a look through the window. This allows to switch the attention.Define what reasons make you propose the first solution that come to the mind. This analysis will help to understand that the decision is influenced by cultural patterns. Having an understanding of this is a big victory by itself. The next step is to define other solutions. They should be based on rationale or feeling depending on the type of the decision.

    • Cultural patterns should not define our behaviour. They should guide and help to understand others. It is important to remember that often widely-accepted solutions need to be re-interpreted, analyzed from a different point of view.